US President Donald Trump has expressed willingness to allow Nvidia to supply a downgraded version of its flagship Blackwell AI chips to China. He made this announcement at a press conference, reports CNBC.
The politician intends to strike a deal with the company if it reduces the chips’ performance for China by 30-50%. He plans to meet with the chipmaker’s CEO, Jensen Huang, to discuss the matter.
“Regarding Blackwell, I think he [Huang] will come to me again on this matter. The Blackwell system is the newest and best in the world,” Trump stated.
Earlier, Nvidia and AMD agreed to remit 15% of their revenue from the sale of H20 and MI308 chips in China to the US government. This was a condition for obtaining export licenses for the processors.
Trump said he initially demanded 20%, but the amount was reduced to 15% after negotiations with Huang.
“I said I want 20% if I’m going to approve this for you, for the country,” Trump noted at a press conference in Washington.
The President described the H20 as “an old chip that China already has.”
“Blackwell is a cutting-edge development. I wouldn’t make a deal on it. It’s the newest and best technology in the world. No one has it. They won’t have it for another five years,” the politician declared.
The approval of exporting downgraded versions of Blackwell will become “the most important event in the future,” said Paul Triolo, partner and senior vice president for China at the consulting firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group.
“The idea is to get China hooked on inferior or not the most advanced technologies,” the expert added.
Huang has repeatedly emphasized that if China’s access to American technologies is restricted, local developers will fill the gap. According to him, the US should continue supplying chips to China to ensure Chinese companies remain dependent on American AI solutions.
In March, Nvidia announced new processors for creating and running AI models — Blackwell Ultra and Vera Rubin.
In August, the company denied the presence of backdoors in its chips following reports of concerns from Chinese authorities.